Changing Fate
by MsEdgely
Summary: Rory Gilmore lands herself a job and winds up with more trouble than she expected. TRORY.


Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the 'Gilmore Girls' or any of the characters involved in this story.

Authors note: Some of you might notice that this is a reuploaded story of mine, however I made a few tweaks to the original and in doing so completely changed the plot and ended up wiping the slate clean! There will be vast differences, especially from the second chapter onwards. :) So hopefully you guys enjoy it and let me know what you think!

* * *

_Okay, this is it. First day on the job, act cool… This is no biggie_, even the reassuring thoughts in Rory's head sounded slightly manic, as she made her way towards the entrance of the newly developed Cafe being advertised in big bold letters as '_The_ _Pot and Kettle'_. Rubbing her sweaty palms against her black pants, she could feel her pulse racing and what felt like prehistoric butterflies doing somersaults in her stomach. Well, it _was_ her first official day of paid labour, not counting the many times she babysat her neighbour's children who she swore were too freakishly good to be real and who weren't exactly what you would call work.

No, this was what she needed; some good old fashioned hard work to keep her mind occupied and money in her wallet.

After her trip to Europe with her mom, they had been scrimping on all the bare essentials and frankly, living off of pop tarts alone was becoming less and less appealing as time went on. She needed new clothes and school books and not to mention a life. Rory was getting tired of Dean paying for everything and even though he claimed to be okay with it all, she still hated the idea that he might expect something from her in return. And she didn't want to feel pressured into doing something she might later on regret.

No, it was definitely better this way.

Making her way up the brick layered steps, she dodged a couple of tables that were situated on the veranda and found the main entrance open. The lights were on inside and the smell of coffee hit her like a freight train, especially since it was five-thirty in the morning and her last coffee fix had been at Luke's the day before. Rory was already starting to feel the caffeine withdrawals kick in, which was never a good sign.

Thoughts of Luke caused her to feel a slight pang of guilt. Now he is one person who won't be happy when he finds out about this - and by this she means her working for the newest competition in town. Picturing his reaction to the news was kind of terrifying, considering he was already pissed that this place had opened.

_"It's bad for business_ _and town morale", _he'd kept repeating over and over again, silently planning sabotage. Although how the town's morale came into the equation still baffled her. If he found out she's one of their newest employees, well…let's just say, avoiding that conversation was high on her list of priorities starting from today.

The warm hue of the café was the first thing Rory noticed as her gaze wondered around the room. It had an embracing, grandmotherly feel to it and suddenly she understood why Luke might feel threatened.

It wasn't the first time she had stepped into this place; obviously she had come in earlier to hand in her resume and later to have an interview. But it _was_ the first time she had a good look around and she had to admit, it was actually pretty nice.

The deep mahogany bar stretched out at the end of the room, with a shiny red coffee machine, slowly coming to life. Someone had to be around, one of the managers at least. Making her way up to the bar, she peered around one last time before calling out.

Silence greeted her.

Strumming her fingers against the wooden bench top, she decided to enter into the staff area.

Pushing through the heavy doors past the bar, she suddenly found herself making her way through the kitchen area. It was smaller than she had imagined, but still impressive. A guy, probably in his early-twenties appeared from behind one of the cabinets and glanced over at her.

Beaming a smile that would send most girls swooning, he made his way towards her. 'Ah Rory, is it?'

Holding out his hand in greeting, Rory blushed as she reached out and took it. His grip was nice and firm as he shook her hand and she had to admit, he was kind of cute. With those nicely chiselled features and striking blue eyes, it was amazing to think he was working here and not in some upscale modelling agency.

'That's me,' she said, and then quickly pointed towards the door she entered through. 'I hope it was okay for me to come back here? I just couldn't see anyone out the front.'

He waved his hand in the air dismissively.

'Yeah, that's fine. So it's your first day here?' He stated more than asked.

'That obvious, huh?' Rory replied sheepishly, playing with the sleeves of her jumper.

He gave her a wink and ushered for her to follow him, which she did without hesitation.

'First day jitters are to be expected,' he assured, sending a glance over his shoulder. 'I'm Steff by the way, I run a couple of shifts here during the week. You'll probably run into Liz later on in the day, she's one of our night managers. She's not hard to miss; in fact you'll probably hear her before you see her.'

Rory smiled at the description and instantly thought of Paris.

Steff led her into what appeared to be the staff locker room, the hooks and lockers being the dead giveaway. It was small and dimly lit, probably the only room in the whole place that felt a little cold and claustrophobic. Observing all the empty lockers, Rory slowly rubbed her hands together ready to get down to business.

'So where do I start?'

* * *

Paper work came first and then she had been given her uniform. A brown collared tee shirt and a black apron. It was simple and neat, and didn't seem to drain her of colour which came as a surprise. Rory tied her hair back into a tight pony tail and didn't even bother with makeup. _If she never wore it to school, why wear it here?_

It wasn't long before she was being given a tour around the cafe, and being shown the duties that she would have to perform during the day. It was a lot to take in and Rory suddenly worried that she was going to screw it up somehow.

Especially since half the time he was talking, she was losing herself in his piercing blue eyes, and then mentally reminded herself that she had a boyfriend.

When they eventually walked past the coffee machine, Rory inquired about whether she would have to learn how to use it (secretly hoping she would) and to her disappointment, Steff shook his head.

'No need to worry about that station, the barista will be here soon. He just started recently as well.'

'Oh, okay,' Rory responded, wondering why he was staring at her like that.

'He's a bit of a ladies man; I just wanted to warn you in advance.'

'That's...nice,' Rory replied, feeling suddenly awkward at what he might be suggesting.

'Just letting you know, if anything does happen between members of staff, and I've seen it happen before, that you guys keep it strictly professional.'

Rory's eyes went wide as she shook her head frantically at what he was suggesting. 'Oh no, I have a boyfriend! Believe me, fraternising with other members of staff is the last thing on my mind.'

Appearing amused at her reaction, he conceded. 'Alright, but the advice still stands whether or not anything happens. It just becomes uncomfortable for everyone in the workplace if things don't work out.'

'Fair enough.'

The idea of dating someone you worked with sounded like a recipe for disaster. But why mention it? Last time she checked people didn't initially view her as a hussy. In fact she was often labelled a good girl and was even nicknamed 'Mary' at one stage.

The fact that this guy saw something different made her worry a little. Was she suddenly giving off slut vibes?

Glancing at his watch Steff frowned. 'He's running a little late. Do you mind setting up some of the tables while I pop around the back?'

Rory shrugged, deciding not to overthink things. 'Sure, I can do that.'

Once Steff was out of sight, Rory started rummaging through some of the containers underneath the bar, trying to remember where everything was. Hearing brisk, heavy footsteps enter the café, she peered over the counter to see who it was_. Surely customers knew that the place wasn't open for another half an hour?_

The last thing she needed was to be bombarded with people without anyone around to help.

But as she peered around the room she only managed to catch the general outline of the person as they quickly entered the staff area. That must have been the guy Steff had just been warning her about.

Talk about an awkward situation.

Grabbing the tray full of napkins, knives and forks Rory went about her business, slowly setting everything up for the day ahead. Still feeling jittery with nerves, her hands refused to stop shaking.

The shaking of course led to her dropping a knife on the floor. Sighing in frustration, Rory bent over to pick it up and was suddenly aware of someone watching her. The window reflected a guy behind her, eyeing her up as she was leaning over to pick up the cutlery.

Ugh, maybe he had a reason for warning her after all. Pulling a face, she straightened up and turned on her heel.

'Do you mind, I can see what you're -' pausing in mid-sentence, Rory stood there stunned when she realised who she was talking to.

He looked pretty stunned himself and not just because he was caught in the act of checking her out. No, he was stunned because he recognised her too.

Rory shook her head in disbelief. 'Tristan? What are you doing here?'

'I could ask you the same thing, Mary,' Tristan dead panned after a couple of seconds before pointing to the ground where she dropped the knife. 'Oh and good job.'

_Smartass._

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I hope you enjoyed it so far and please R&R! I would love to hear your thoughts. :)


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